, 1887-06-04
Row .f.er Rabyah's gray marc: and th,S

urftetl on the toilinS camcls Of the ~oneri
still fastet-turned once moro and laid AM
ARROW across his bow, the drum beatNof
pursuing hoofs broke up into q sound of
scrapin5 and of stumbling, whjc the men
of Sulaim scattered and drew back in dis
may And many tunes Rabyab THUS,
checked them. ElOhly Nul,aishah. the son!
Of -Iabib,- firm -upon-his-blaek
stallion and faced the humming shaft,
md d~cxterously avoided it or fhfned it
from him with marvellous surety OF j
M trtieness of hand iAsft F3AHi 20L
So, fleeing and turning, halting and
processing pursuers and pursued ever
grow nearer to Tie jagged teeth of the
western hills; and m tie blac,f toothedi
line Of them appeared tho bright gap Of
tho Pass OF, .Ghazal, ever widening and
frightening as they rode. And now the
great stones upon the way made long
black shadows over tho plain; for the sun
was setting before them, so. they rode
into tho edge Of tho shadow Of The hills,
and Eabyah turned to make d last stand
and tho pounding Of tho pursuing boots
became Q shpflips once again IS the land
Of ,Sulaim drow rein in u cloud OF dust,
Eut now Ia Rabyah'B quiver there was no
moro shafts. 10 5ld4I adl glu1I1a9I Jsgs
Then QUINN Saiyar cried out to hin,
afar offs Sword and spear, sonl Sword
and spear for tho women Of Che BeTii-
FfrazlnoGive them sword u~ndosrear for
thy mother's sake, for thine own Raytah
who waitcth in tho tent" sg.ia 7su,.
And again and again did Eabyah charge
them with spear and sword, scattering
them sevcn al o hawk scattercth oqunils.I
Only Nubaishah, tho son Of Ialib, led
npt bt,t riol1o1 ,-ov cr,ppipclv N lot hip,
pass, and always thereafter circled incn.
aeinGly about him. like ayr.lsuro osMenp-
ing close to tho, sand. ,sdioss lli, OF lob
And it happened ct last that, as Eabyat
boro down upon q man Of Sulaffn, Eu.
baishah suddenly circled by Efnf rapidly
as . whiFlinS wind, and ,thrusty with his
lance ns he whirlod, and The lance Lado
burst its way through Eabyah's shirt Of
Persian mai md into lis ~crtrails.
And kuhaishah5 laughed, and drew
back the BLADE Of his wet spear betweea
his stations ears, and smelled tho odor
Of tho Blood upon II, and Eliouted: o.iThou
hast thy death wound, O Iabyuhi1dnFor
never had swarthy fJubaishah Lifted his
spear against o man to, glay him and.
failed IN his purposo-so keen hi3 eye, s
subtle his hand. 'f'i'i
Eut Rnbyah, seeking to deceive him
for the women's saEo, shouted back with
all tho deep power of his voice; Thou
lest in thy throat, Nubaishah!" And
Nubaishah laughed again, and shook lin
head in scorn, and oirclad away among
his men. u-aA.
Then Habyah rode after the women
swiftly, sitting firm as a tower despite hia
pain; and even ut the Pass of ,Ghazal he
came up with his mother, us he had
promised, and he said to her, Ohmother,
give mo to drink! l have received my
death wound And QUINN Sxyar looked
upon tho wound-a CHASTITY wound, that
gapcd even as the mouth of o camel with
divided lip i 7"n' sLI'FAE pEi
Dut she was of the race Of eaSfes, and.
she answered him, tearlessly, NaygIny
son, for If l give thee to drink now THOU
diest, and wo would then be taken and
put to shame, and whslo oven ono drop Of
blood lives in thy veins, oh son Of mine,
thy duty romans to stand in defense of
the weakness Of woman and tho honor Of
thy people. Turn back, son of Mokaddem!
Turn and smite them while thy strength
lasts, and bear the thirst for thy mothers
sake; yet suffer me first to bind up thy
wound" l'1q7 h-a aIN| sdNN4 VIZ
And while she strove to bind it with her
veil--for that was al she had to bind it
with-Rabyah mumured to her, '.Oh
mother, the sons of Firaz have indeed lost
him they were wont to call their battle
hawk-their deep diving hawk of battle
him they held precious unto them IS fires
aiming gold, They have lost their darling
horSeman, oh motherl'
But QUINN, Saiyar answered him as
rlol knotted tightly tbs long veil about
his wound: Son, arc wo not of mighty
Thalabah's stock, and, Malih's breed,
whose daily lot is bereavement Well
hath it been said that no man dieth in his
tentl What is the record Of otr race but
ri outpouring Of ghosts from the clash Of
battle, ever as the spark lood's perpetual
gush, from the grinding of swords2t Yet
thou Enowest that blood Of ours is never
shed without vengeance; and when oneof
us fnlletn straightway another riseth up
to do the deeds of o man-5to help the.
weak, TO strive swit; them that arc mighty
for cvl. lear thou tho thirst for thy
peoples sake; turn w oh son, and
smite them stoutly while thy strength en-
dures." X ---T.,,T
And Eabyah turned back ugatn, while
the wotnen fed; and once more he seat
tered tho bandof Sulaiml and drove them
bSA1AS IA sAtt hStu I'LL NH Pabo-L kAINlllO
sat guarding the narrow way upon his
7 gray marc.
Then fell and died the day, in awful
passion uof 1ro, behind the pass, md
aSainst tho mighty glow, d IN q flame,
the horeman lowered llle q Djinn,
And the sons of Sulalm drcw cfar OF,
and watched Rabyah-as vultures wait
and watch, plumng themselves, about
tho place where a lion lieth down to die.
And because they would not aEain attack
Rabyah, Nubaishah Knocked thcm with
rhymes piercing Us the iron of lanccs.
But they could not be moved to approach
him; and Nubaishah foamcd at lie mouth
Ike n camel hat had eaten bitter herbs.
Aud the night came.
But Eabyah, remaining in the shadow
of the Pass, felt that his ghost was about
to depart from him. And bending to the
ear of his slim gray marc, he whispered
unto her, softly, "Stand thou still, darl-
ing; stand still as a stone for tho love of
mel Then he pressed the foot of his
long spear into the ground, even as he sat
upon her, and leaned upon 1t,
And in the darkness its ghost went out
from him.